3. Before the Beginning Begins - 05
3. Before the Beginning Begins - 05
"...You mean House Sernad has sent a document stating they wish to annul the engagement between Sarah and myself? That is rather surprising."
It was, indeed, quite a surprising development. Specifically, the fact that my broken engagement with Sarah had been moved up by a full five years.
Regrettably enough, I felt no particular emotion over the possibility that my engagement to Sarah might end. Honestly, feeling any particular emotion about it would have been the stranger thing. By a simple count of years alone, it was something that had happened over five years ago. At this point, making a fuss about it would be laughable, would it not? The man standing here now was not some whelp who got swept away by his own feelings. The current Kain von Estel was a seasoned regressor who had been through every conceivable hardship over the span of a decade.
"Well, if that side wants to annul the engagement, is it not simply a matter of accepting it? The world is hardly short of women besides Sarah, and I see no reason whatsoever for our side to cling to them."
At my reply, a faint glimmer of interest began to play across my father's face.
"...Hm, a rather resolute attitude. I had expected you to be your usual indecisive self, not knowing what to do."
"It is true that I am an indecisive person, but I am not so wretched as to cling to someone who has declared they want nothing to do with us."
At my firm answer, my father let out a short, derisive laugh.
"You speak quite smoothly. In the few days I haven't seen you, your tongue has turned to silver. I have heard that the cause of this broken engagement lies entirely with you, and yet I cannot for the life of me fathom where such a brazen attitude comes from."
"...What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Did you think me deaf?"
Father lifted one corner of his mouth and directed an enigmatic smile at me.
"I heard everything. That child Sarah came here to visit, and it seems not only did you receive her while you were still in bed, but there was also another woman in that same bed, or so I'm told? I would think this constitutes ample grounds for an annulment, and I find myself quite curious as to your thoughts on the matter."
"....."
I had nothing to say. Frankly, I had a premonition that trying to make any excuse here would just cement my status as a genuine bastard. No matter what anyone said, the fact that Aria was lying on my bed and that Sarah witnessed that scene was an indisputable fact that left no room for excuses.
"Let me state the conclusion first: that situation was entirely a misunderstanding. Aria and I are not involved in any kind of relationship. I am not, in the first place, insane enough to meet my fiancée while another woman is in my bed."
At my excuse, my father raised his eyebrows.
"Wait, who exactly is this child Aria?"
"...The explanation will be a rather long one."
With that, I told my father everything that had happened on the day I regressed to the past, without adding or omitting a single detail. That upon waking, I found a white-haired woman of unknown identity lying on my bed. That, ridiculous as it sounds, the woman was suffering from amnesia, and Sarah had happened to witness the scene. That she seemed to possess an innate genius for magic, leading me to guess that she had instinctively used magic to sneak into my room, and that even when pressed for answers, her lack of memory made it impossible to question the truth. I laid it all bare.
"A truly laughable tale. It even feels a bit shabby."
That was my father's first remark after hearing my full story.
"But it doesn't seem to be a fabrication. It has too many holes to be a planned excuse, and it feels unbelievably contrived. If you were truly going to lie, wouldn't you have presented a perfect excuse?"
The way my father said this, shrugging his shoulders, made it seem as if he genuinely believed my explanation. Though the fact that he was trusting my words based not on faith between father and son, but on a deduction of the situation, stung my heart a little.
"Well, interrogating you further might be amusing, but I shall set that matter aside for now. I did not call you here to discuss that."
As he spoke, my father's face instantly shifted into a serious expression.
"I shall ask you one last time. Do you have the confidence not to regret it if your engagement to Sarah ends here?"
At those words, which could almost be taken as a threat, I instead let out a short laugh.
"Did I not tell you? I have no desire to cling to that side in a wretched manner now."
Because any lingering attachment I had for Sarah had long since burned away to ash five years ago.
"...Hmm."
"The fact that House Sernad sent such a document so brazenly is evidence that they have their own calculations in order. In the first place, I dislike the very fact that they sent this kind of letter without any prior consultation with us. An engagement between houses is not child's play, and the fact that they would unilaterally declare an annulment just because they caught one incident plainly shows their true intentions."
"True intentions?"
"Even I am not certain what their true intentions are. But is an engagement between houses not something too significant to decide or annul so easily? It even makes me suspect that their intentions were never truly focused on the engagement between Sarah and myself in the first place."
"...Hmm."
At my words, my father only let out a groan and said nothing. Though I had just rattled off whatever came to mind to persuade my father, as I spoke, it began to feel like a plausible explanation.
Five years from now, at the time when my engagement to Sarah was actually broken, House Sernad and Sarah had shown no reaction whatsoever. They displayed no emotion about the annulment. As if, from the very beginning, my engagement to her was never a matter of their consideration.
One way or another, it was clear that House Sernad, unlike its outward appearance, was definitely harboring some ulterior motive. If that was the case, then rather than being dragged along while trying to forcibly maintain the engagement, making a clean break at this opportunity was the right decision.
"...You seem to have made your resolve quite firm. Well, you are right. In truth, this current document was not sent to actually push forward with annulling your engagement. It is House Sernad's own notification, stating they were angry enough at your conduct to potentially proceed with an annulment. However, the fact that they would send a formal letter of protest over what amounts to a mere misunderstanding between a man and a woman also seems to confirm that they have no lingering attachment to the engagement. From what I can see, their behavior indeed seems to be leading toward an annulment between you and Sarah. At this point, I cannot easily fathom their true intentions."
After letting out a brief sigh, my father gazed at the neatly folded letter in his hand for just a moment, then.
Riiip—
He tore the letter cleanly in two without a shred of hesitation. It was nothing short of a magnificently bold and gallant gesture.
"Good. If your decision is firm, then there is no need to harbor any lingering attachment anywhere. I was fond of that child Sarah, but not so fond that I must be dragged around by them and absolutely take her as a daughter-in-law. I shall make sure to show the world that House Estel is not so weak a family as to be dragged around by those swine."
The moment the torn pieces of the letter fluttered silently to the floor, my father picked up the coat draped over his chair and looked directly at me.
"So you, too, prepare yourself. I plan to go up to the Imperial Capital immediately and have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. There were things I needed to speak to him about anyway, so it seems fitting to discuss the matter of your broken engagement with Sarah as well on this occasion."
"...Huh? What did you say?"
"Have your ears clogged over? I said we are going up to the Imperial Capital. To explain the annulment to His Majesty."
"Why on earth would you explain such a trivial matter as my broken engagement with Sarah to His Majesty?"
"A trivial matter? You're spouting quite the nonsense."
My father stared at me blankly, as if looking at something foolish.
"Did you truly think His Majesty had no involvement whatsoever in the engagement of the heirs of the Four Great Ducal Houses of the Empire? His Majesty was indirectly involved in this engagement as well. As such, there are aspects of it that require a subsequent report to His Majesty. Beyond that, there are various other circumstances I cannot disclose to you, so stop your grumbling and follow me at once."
Unfortunately, my father's explanation barely registered in my ears. Because at this moment, my mind was filled with only a single thing.
The sole legitimate descendant of the current Imperial Household. Imperial Princess Iris El Debhart.
One of the existing Masters of the Empire, and at the same time, the woman who would become my self-proclaimed swordsmanship instructor in the future.
The damned woman who occupied a position no different from a devil to me, having driven me into hell under the pretext of "training."
The woman who had turned my stomach inside out throughout the entire expedition, and whom I had sworn never to face again for the rest of my life after regressing. I was now confronted with the unprecedented crisis of possibly having to see that woman's face once more.